French authorities announced they had rescued more than 160 migrants on Friday evening as they tried to cross the English Channel to the UK in old boats in very cold weather, just days after the shipwreck.
About 50 people were rescued by a French ship from a boat “in trouble” off the northern coast of France and taken to the port of Calais, officials said.
Another warship also rescued 31 migrants whose boat sank in the same area before they were taken to the port of Boulogne.
The Coast Guard transported 45 people to the port of Calais after they issued a distress signal while trying to cross the channel, while a lifeboat was launched to help another 40 people nearby.
The French rescuers took care of all the migrants.
This year, a record 40,000 migrants crossed from northern France to the UK by boat, risking their lives to cross one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in harsh weather.
At least four people died last Wednesday in a shipwreck off the port of Dover in southern Britain.
This tragedy came about a year after the death of at least 27 people in the canal in another accident.
The British government is trying to pass new laws to limit the record number of migrants crossing the English Channel, including by preventing such arrivals from applying for asylum.
Source: AFP